


Running In The Night

by KDtheGhostwriter



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Batman: Arkham (Video Games), DC Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eddie needs some help, Gen, Mystery, Team Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-06 02:32:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11591106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KDtheGhostwriter/pseuds/KDtheGhostwriter
Summary: Going off a lead from Commissioner Jim Gordon, Batman comes across another of The Riddler's demented games. This time, however, he also encounters an old friend. The infamous jewel thief known as Catwoman. Another pleasant evening in Gotham City.





	Running In The Night

**Author's Note:**

> When I began writing my Dawn of Justice Novelization, I got a message from a guest commenter who went by 'Batfleckforthewin'. They gave me a series of prompts, but the one that interested me most was Bats meeting Catwoman for the first time. It was a good idea, but I had just replayed Arkham Knight - specifically Riddler's Revenge - so I decided to write about them meeting for the last time, as per the game. No sour grapes, just bittersweet.
> 
> Reading Dawn of Justice is not required (it _is_ encouraged!) but for those who have, this story takes place between Ch. 8 Barry Go Fast and Ch. 9 Big Fish Guy.
> 
> I meant to have this out much sooner than right now, but the KD from 5 years ago who couldn't write action scenes whatsoever decided to pay a visit and made things remarkably difficult. Nonetheless, I powered through, and in true Gotham fashion, I finished writing this story in a dimly-lit bar at midnight just minutes before a severe thunderstorm rolled into town. Happy Sunday!

Bruce Wayne didn’t visit Alfred Pennyworth’s cottage all that often. Not often enough considering its proximity to the Glasshouse. He made a rare visit that evening, but Alfred knew better by now. This was no casual visit, and Bruce had nothing to say.

They were in the dining room soon enough: Bruce seated, Alfred standing. In the center of the table was a single cassette tape, cased in purple and marked with green question marks. E. Nigma was a brilliant and troubled man whose new life purpose had become defeating the Batman in a mental (and sometimes not) battle of wills. After their first few encounters, Bruce had simply ignored him, in the hope that he would abandon his mission. For a while, that seemed to have been the case, but then Gordon handed him the tape which he was now staring at.

Alfred was leaned onto a chair, one hand on his hip. In truth, Bruce had only come to Alfred’s house to borrow his cassette player. Of all the tech, old and new, that he made use of, this was not one of them.

“You don’t _have_ to do it, you know.”

“I do, Alfred.”

“Might I ask why?”

“It’s my job.”

“I bloody well know that, sir! Why him?”

“He’s a nuisance.”

“Yes, a minor nuisance-“

“A _dangerous_ nuisance.”

“One the GCPD would be more than willing to apprehend.”

“Jim’s busy,” Bruce said, not taking his eyes off the tape. “I need to handle this now.”

“Need I remind you, Master Wayne, that you are a mere 24 hours removed from traveling cross-country? I do not suggest going on patrol, even if it is for a single case.”

Bruce sat back with arms crossed and considered it. Alfred had a point. Even after excusing himself from his day job he had been sluggish. Three time zones in a day was nothing to scoff at. He felt better now with the Sun sinking low into the horizon but if Nigma was only looking for another game of hide-n-seek, he’d gladly stay in. Only one way to know for sure as he popped open Alfred’s stereo and placed the cassette tape inside.

The grating and distorted voice of The Riddler cracked to life.

_“A pleasant good evening to you, Batman! I do hope you’ve been enjoying the holiday season so far, what with its superficial charm and shameless displays of consumerism. I’m certain that no one could appreciate Black Friday like you, Dark Knight. Alas, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to put your usual night of wanton property damage and public endangerment on hold so you can be an actual detective for once. Across our fair City of Gotham I have left for you a series of tasks designed to challenge the most underused muscle in your body. That’s right! It’s the one in your head! Of course, it’s silly of me to think a man so obsessed with his own image would take the risk of being bested by his intellectual superior, so I’ve added a little incentive to your quest.”_

_“Hey, Eddie! Nice place you’ve got here. I’m sure I’d like it even better if I could see it. And you!”_

Bruce sat up in his chair as he heard Selina Kyle’s voice. He didn’t turn to see, but he could hear Alfred’s heavy sigh behind him.

_“Curiosity didn’t kill the Cat, but I will if you don’t meet my challenge within the week, Detective! You can find me at the abandoned orphanage. You will receive further instructions there. Do make haste! Your humiliating defeat and untimely demise both await you!”_

Nigma stopped speaking but the tape did not reach the end of its reel, so Bruce let it run.

_“This tape will self-destruct in 10 seconds.”_

Alfred spun from where he was and went to eject the tape. A second later-

_“BOOM! Hahahaha! Always so gullible!”_

The tape did end this time and Bruce ejected it and held it out to his side. Alfred took it and threw it across the room into the open waste bin. He came into Bruce’s line of sight and fixed him with a look.

“Forget what I said. Find him and bring him in. Painfully.”

Bruce smirked at that.

 

\-----------------------------

 

“Catch!”

Catwoman was a prolific thief, but she was also a capable fighter. They had worked together before, so Batman launched himself without thinking in her direction and came down onto one of The Riddler’s robot minions, crushing it beneath his boots. It was the last one, and Catwoman took a moment to stretch herself out on the floor as he took a step toward her.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said a bit curtly. “I’ll be better once the bomb is off my neck, thanks.”

Batman said nothing as he watched her walk towards the glass case at the back of the room. She was aggravated, and with good reason. She had nothing to do with Nigma’s obsession with him, but she had been caught up anyway. Add that to the fact that he had taken his sweet time answering The Riddler’s call in the first place and he couldn’t imagine she was his biggest fan currently.

“I’m sorry we had to meet like this.”

“No. You’re sorry we had to meet at all.”

“That’s not true, Selina.”

“Isn’t it? What little girl doesn’t dream of one day being bait for her strapping Dark Knight? Especially one she hasn’t heard from in years.”

Batman could say nothing to that. So he didn’t, and asked her a question instead.

“It’s not like you to get caught. Was it an ambush? Blackmail?”

“An invite.”

“Really?”

“Eddie said he had a job. One of the cat burgling variety. I’m pretty good at it, remember?”

“How could I forget?”

She curved her lip at that. He didn’t use double entendre often, but Selina was one of the few people who recognized when he did. It wasn’t just her thieving he had in mind.

The two of them reached the case and Catwoman used her claws to reach the key suspended inside. She held it up to the masked vigilante expectantly. “Would you like to do the honors?”

Batman took the key without a word and unlocked the collar, defusing the bomb. Selina removed the device and looked it over with a frown.

“You know what the worst part about this was? It looked cheap.” She threw it to the floor, then looked at Batman. “Well, handsome, what are we waiting for?”

They left the room and entered into the cavernous expanse of the main area. The entire orphanage – once abandoned – had been converted into Nigma’s twisted playground. The idea of him pouring so much time and effort into destroying them was unsettling, and not just to Batman.

“God, this whole thing is so _weird_!” Catwoman said. “What is Eddie’s problem?”

“Fanatic narcissism, egocentrism and megalomania crossed with severe obsessive compulsion.”

Selina huffed at the answer to her rhetorical question. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Batman was a moment from walking onto the main floor when Catwoman stopped him. Her hearing was even sharper than his so he stilled himself. He was about to ask her what she heard when the floor began to open up. A large platform rose from underground to reveal The Riddler: surrounded by a horde of his robots while he himself was in a large robot body. An exo-suit to be exact. The man was indignant.

“Agh! Since you two can’t seem to perform the simplest of tasks and be destroyed as planned, you’ve given me no choice but to sink to your pathetic level and do it _myself_!”

One vigilante and one thief: separating as a green beam of energy bisects the ground where they once stood. They began picking off robots as they worked their way around the room. Catwoman was agile in her attacks – quick and cunning, slick but overwhelming. Batman, as he had been for years, was brutish and punishing. The fact that he was fighting machines only added to this mindset. He rarely pulled punches to begin with; there were zero reasons to now.

“You will be ASHES!” Another laser beam that cut into the floor and straight into a cluster of bots. No awareness. It was a good thing Nigma had given up on the dregs of Gotham for assistance.

Batman returned a favor from earlier and launched a bot into the air, allowing Catwoman to cut through it with a flying kick. No one could deny her skill. In a different universe, he could even entertain the thought of them working together more often.

“Die father! I mean - Batman!”

Batman shared a brief but knowing glance with Selina. That little outburst explained a lot. Freud was right again. The rest of the fight was brief but tedious. There were easily two dozen robots to dispatch and they didn’t go quietly. All that was left when Batman put his fist through the head of the last one was piles of wire and fiberglass of varying size. They could barely see the floor. And then there was Nigma…

“It’s just you and me now, Batman!”

“Uh, _hellooo_!” Catwoman did not appreciate being overlooked. “Forgetting someone, Eddie? Like, oh, I don’t know, the one you kidnapped?”

“I haven’t forgotten about you, Catwoman! My plans no longer require your presence; therefore, you are a parameter that must be deleted!”

The Riddler swung one of the suit’s massive metal claws and caught Selina in its grasp. Batman dodged a swipe from the other arm and ducked behind it. He shot his grapple gun, catching the claw that was holding Selina and pulled hard. It gave her just enough room to work her way free. When she did, she clawed at Nigma’s face, and his controls. Batman jumped back as the machine began to thrash about in the center of the floor. Eventually, Selina clawed away at Nigma’s harness and sent him sprawling out onto the floor. When that happened, Batman seized the moment, leaping over Riddler’s creation and coming down onto his temple with a knock-out blow.

Catwoman gracefully touched down and took in the unconscious man at Batman’s feet. “I was just about to suggest you do that.”

 

\-----------------------------

 

“Ah! Fresh air, freedom and darkness! Perfect.”

Batman trailed behind with his cape billowing in the breeze. As she descended the front steps of the orphanage, Catwoman stretched her hands to the sky and appraised the early Gotham morning. It was still hours away from dawn, and the ground was damp from a recent sprinkling.

“How should we celebrate?”

“We don’t. I need to get Nigma into custody.”

“Oh, you smooth talker, you! How could anyone resist such steely charisma?”

Batman glowered silently as Catwoman circled around him. He was wasting time.

“I should go.”

Selina pouted. “Do you ever take the night off? Do you ever take the suit off?”

“Not if I can help it.”

She stopped pacing and faced him head on. There was something different in her stare – almost sad. She began to close the distance between them. Very slowly.

“You could just leave, you know. You can’t play hero forever.”

“I can try.”

“Yes, you can. But there’s only one place your little Martyr’s Fantasy is going to end up.”

“Gotham needs to be defended.”

Selina closed the distance and walked her two fore-fingers up Batman’s armor before resting her palm flat on the Bat symbol adorning his chest.

“Some things you can’t do alone, Bruce.”

“I didn’t say I’d be alone.”

Batman darted his eyes away from hers. It was a tell, and an uncharacteristic one. Selina noticed and quickly ducked behind him to block his escape.

“What’s her name?”

He paused. There was no use lying to the woman in front of him, but he recognized quietly that he had no wish to.

“Diana.”                                                                                                                                            

“That’s very pretty. How does she make you feel?”

“Well.”

“Wooooow. One whole word! That’s more than I managed in two years!”

“Selina-”

“Hush,” she said, pressing a finger to his mouth. “You don’t have to explain anything. It looks like you have someone in your life who’s able to make you stop and think for once. That’s no small feat.”

She walked past him and once again looked out onto the bay. The city on the other side cut through the darkness and fog with a sort of annoying persistence. A beacon of hope and horizons. Always had to have the last word.

“Where will you go?”

Catwoman placed her arms above her head and stretched herself out, not unlike her namesake. It wasn’t but seconds later that an actual cat came leaping down off his shoulder and onto the ground underneath her feet.

“Hmm? What do you think, precious?” She picked up the cat and was answered with a meow. “Good point. Being an extended guest in Eddie’s funhouse has given me time to think.” She turned to Bruce. “She thinks maybe we should dial it back to known associates for a while.”

“Hm. Probably a good idea.”

“Not everyone has the luxury of their own Cave, after all.” She placed the cat gently to the ground and watched it saunter off toward the water. “Besides, I hear Metropolis is lovely this time of year.”

“It’s not.”

“You would know, you big brooding buzzkill.”

Batman said nothing, but extended his hand to shake. She considered it, even made like she was going to, then bypassed it completely and kissed his cheek before he could react. “Take care, Bruce.”

Catwoman made to the steps of the building and bounded to the top of the overhang. She was a moment from the top of the structure when Batman called out to her.

“Selina!” She stopped to look down. “Where were you last Friday between midnight and 1 AM?”

A show was made by her of deep thinking and contemplation. “At the soup kitchen - No, wait! - giving blood. Why do you ask?”

“There was a break-in at the Gotham Museum of Antiquities. A valuable gemstone was stolen.”

“Noooooo! Who would do such a thing?” She didn’t bother hiding the grin – the Cat who got the cream. Batman concentrated on keeping his next words as deadpan as possible.

“Just put it back.”


End file.
